Bitcoin: four reasons why the price should surge in 2024
theconversation.comThe year 2023 will be remembered as turbulent for cryptocurrencies, with numerous important developments that ultimately helped to “clean up” the space to potentially make it more attractive to mainstream investors.
Notably there was the conviction of FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for fraud. Top exchange Binance also reached a US$4 billion settlement (£3.1 billion) with the US treasury department over money-laundering charges, which saw CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao agreeing to step down and pay a US$50 million fine.
Meanwhile, regulators continued cracking down on other operators, but potentially lost one of their key cases against the industry after a US court ruled that the XRP token, one of the top ten cryptocurrencies, was not a security (meaning a tradeable financial asset like shares or bonds).
This means its creator, Ripple, did not break the law by selling it on exchanges. Viewed as a test case for the majority of cryptocurrencies, the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently appealing.